More meth labs in MO than any other state

[proud2BlibKansan]

Cold drug curbs considered in meth fight

SAM HANANEL

Associated Press


WASHINGTON - The days of buying some cold remedies off the shelf in drug stores soon may be gone, a casualty of the methamphetamine epidemic.

Already more than a dozen states have laws that require retailers to sell Sudafed, Nyquil and other medicines only from behind the pharmacy counter.

Now Congress is working on legislation intended to make it tougher for people to get the ingredients needed to manufacture the highly addictive drug.

<snip>

The meth problem is particularly severe in the Midwest, where rural areas provide cover for the pungent chemical odor from meth labs. In Missouri, law enforcement officers seized more than 2,700 meth labs last year - more than any other state.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/breaking_news/11827096.htm

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. Do the math here folks

Does anyone else here have a hard time believing that there are 7.3 meth labs discovered PER DAY in Missouri? 2700 divided by 365 is 7.3.

Sure, we have a problem but why lie about it?

[Warpy]

3. NM has a much lower population

and just in this one city, they bust 3 or 4 a week at the minimum.

Meth labs are nasty propositions and meth is a very nasty drug.

There isn't anything else around but alcohol, so meth becomes more attractive than it should be for folks who just want to send their brains on a vacation.

Back when pot was cheap and plentiful, we the people waged a successful campaign against meth. People knew speed kills, and they used the alternatives.

Meth is a symptom of a drug war that's gotten a little too successful.

[proud2BlibKansan]

5. 3 or 4 a week seems more reasonable

than over 7 per DAY.

[RayOfHope]

16. SMS (or I guess Missouri State or whatever)

is actually building a new center for both autism and teratogenic kids (kids exposed to teratogens in utero). The main teratogen in this case being meth. So, in short they have to build a center to treat all the meth exposed and addicted babies.

I believe 7 a day for the entire state. It doesn't have to be a major meth production, they are probably counting households in which it is produced. One per day for each region of the state doesn't seem that out of question (NW, NCentral, NE. Mid Mo, W central, SW, SCentral, SE)

[SteppingRazor]

2. Eh, not surprising.

Having attended the University of Missouri for Journalism School, I recall the outlying areas boasting terrible quantities of meth labs -- every yahoo and bubba with a bathtub and enough money to purchase a case of Sudafed was getting in on the act. But what do you expect in heavily depressed areas, especially with beef and corn prices so low? You can make a heckuva lot more dough cooking up some crystal.
And besides, out on the coasts, we don't need meth. We have all the blow we can snort, though I've noticed crank making in-roads finally in the club scene down here in South Florida. Especially in the gay clubs, a holdover from the circuit scene, where partygoers require meth in order to stay up for four-day-long parties. One's health, of course, is hardly a concern under such conditions.

[proud2BlibKansan]

6. I live and work near a meth hub

but no way are they busting even ONE lab a day, or SEVEN.

[saltpoint]

4. If I lived in a state that has produced John Ashcroft, I'd probably --

-- be a meth freak, too.

Not that Abu Gonzales is much better.

[xmas74]

7. Yes! We are back on top!

Sorry-just means that I might start getting more hours at work again.

[proud2BlibKansan]

8. Do you believe this Xmas?

7 per day? Where is the media? This is a huge story - if it's true.

[xmas74]

9. there is no seven per day.

Even at the worst times when we were busting nonstop there were no seven per day. Per week, maybe and most of that was small-time operations. But not seven per day.

[proud2BlibKansan]

10. yeah I find it hard to believe

maybe 7 a week but not every day.

The new thing here in the big city is a mobile meth lab. They have busted many folks cooking meth in their cars. Can you imagine? Meth heads are really nuts.

[xmas74]

11. mobile labs have been around for quite awhile.

they usually don't cook in the car but it is portable enough to take to any field, empty lot, etc w/o major building. I used to dispatch for SERT so I have ran some dispatch w/ mobile labs before.

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. Interesting

The thing about meth I don't get is the risk these folks take that their house could blow up. I can relate to being desperate enough to want the money or to want to get high but risking blowing up my house or my car? No.

[xmas74]

13. they could make more money off of a few hours of cooking

than they could make at a job w/ a living wage for an entire year. And when you have people w/ no skills and no employment future that is a very strong pull.

[proud2BlibKansan]

14. But they could blow their house up

that is a pretty strong deterrent.

[cornermouse]

15. Not to mention the physical danger to their children.

Its a pretty sad thing.

[proud2BlibKansan]

18. The kids come to school

and their clothes smell like cat piss. It won't wash out either. We have learned to recognize meth lab kids by this smell.

And many of their parents have bad teeth or no teeth. Another dead ringer.

[RayOfHope]

17. Yes, but they aren't thinking about that

If they had their families best interest at heart, they wouldn't be using or producing in the first place.

I'm also thinking that drug bust (surveillance, swat team and all that) vs. discovering a meth lab could account for some of the 7 a day.

[proud2BlibKansan]

19. But the article says they are busting 7 meth labs a day

I understand your point but that's not how I interpreted the quote.

[RayOfHope]

20. Sensational language

It could just mean they are closing down 7 meth labs a day.

I still don't find 'busting' 7 meth labs a day across the entire state that farfectched. Unfortunately, maybe it;s one of those things that has become so common we don't hear much about it.

[xmas74]

21. most of our cases are no longer found in houses.

It's becoming much more common to get a portable lab and cook in a farmer's field. They aren't finding them in houses as much as they used to.
The amount of money is a pretty strong pull when you know that you can cook out in the country in the middle of the night. It tends to be a strong pull when you see empty cupboards, no jobs in the paper and you hear the kids whining about dinner.